Representative Mike Conaway said on Monday that he would continue to lead the House’s Russia probe even though Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, was cleared by an ethics inquiry due to which he couldn’t do so himself.
Last week, Nunes was cleared by the House Ethics Committee of any wrongdoing. The committee, which began its investigation in April, said Nunes had not done anything improper when handling classified information, clearing him of allegations that he had disclosed classified intelligence.
However, in the course of these few months, he was unable to run the Russia investigation and had to step aside while Conaway took charge.
Following the panel’s decision, a number of committee members, both Democratic and Republican, raised questions about whether Nunes would retake the helm of the investigation. According to the CNN, such a move would anger Democrats considering the panel is already engulfed in partisan tension.
The ethics panel’s decision, however, does not change the investigation, Conaway said on Monday.
“Not at all,” he said in response to whether the decision will affect the arrangement that he lead the inquiry.
“I’m going to keep running it. He’s got plenty of committee business to do, separate and apart from the Russia stuff. So I don’t anticipate any changes to the relationship,” Conaway added.
Nunes, on the other hand, was much vaguer concerning his plans, saying only, “It’s always the same as I’ve always said. Not changing anything.”
Representative Jim Himes previously said that in the course of the past few months, Nunes had devoted himself to political distractions, referring to allegations that President Donald Trump was wiretapped by the Obama administration and accusations that Obama aides revealed Americans’ names in intelligence reports.
Himes said on Sunday that Nunes has to drop these “distractions” if he wants to lead the House’s Russia inquiry again.
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